Grull's Companions

There And Back Again

The gate winked out of existence, and Ecclesiarch Agee introduced the party to Essaile Kiruin, informing them that they were now in the Land Of The Gods. The elderly priest led the group through a field of warriors, honing their fighting skills until the day the world ends, when they will be called upon to defend the Land Of The Gods. From there, they came upon an immense Great Hall, as wide and long as the eye could see.

Inside the Great Hall, they encounter peoples of all stripe, Kumasians and Erqigdlit, mages, warriors and priests, men and women, all of whom served the high gods in their days on the mortal world. The Companions find themselves a table to feast at, and are brought any food and drink they can imagine. During the feast, the goddess Meara appears to welcome everyone to the feast, and then comes to the table to briefly address the Ecclesiarch and the adventurers. After a hearty night of pleasantries, the group is shown to a well-apportioned barracks where they might rest.
The next day is one of training, where the party learns at the hands of masters who now reside in the Land Of The Gods. Whether magic, faith, or steel, each finds a tutor appropriate for them. After learning their craft, another night of revelry. But on the morrow, the Companions must return to the world they belong in.

This time the gate takes the Companions to an audience hall adorned with images of the gods. They are met by paladin Melioth of the cathedral at Dar Vendrazhian, who guides them to the roof of Gwinden Abbey to show them the orc army they will face in the coming days.
The group is then conducted to a war briefing conducted by the Bonifact himself. At the start of the briefing, he calls Grull forward to formally induct him into the Favored Of Kilbern, the order of paladins sworn to the defense of the High Church. After the briefing, the group is dismissed, and the party is shown to the mess hall.

Melioth comes to their table to discuss uses for the party with Grull. Quickly, the two agree that the best service for the Companions is as an elite tactical strike unit, and the mission has to be a direct assault upon the main orc leadership in their very camp! Melioth thinks the mage power inside the abbey can get the group to the encampment; however, it likely cannot get them back again. The assignment may well be a suicide mission. To a person, the Companions agree to the highly dangerous quest.

Facing the great dragon Vitiator!

Having defeated the guardian frostflails, the Companions enter the great cave. It had been recently used as a shelter, housing an orc king and his retinue. But the magic-tinged wind came from somewhere back further still within the cavern.

The cave narrowed down to a rough-hewn corridor, extending back into the darkness. Proceeding on, the corridor continued, becoming less rock and more ice, with a light – daylight, not artificial – looming in the distance. Eventually, the hallway becomes all ice, the wind stiffens, and the cold deepens. The hall comes to an archway, radiant of magic, with sigils carved directly into the ice. It is reminiscent of the stones delivered to King Boldisar of Szarvasia months before, stones described as the parts of a portal leading to a dark realm of the demon prince of foulness. This icy arch is where the ill wind, cold and tinged with magic, comes from, passing from somewhere far colder, through the portal, and into Elvenholme. Beyond the portal, the hallway turns, and beyond that, unknown – but lit with a natural daylight.

The Companions discuss their options. Gwilithon does not wish to go through the portal, but Maril tells the group that orcs are coming up the corridor behind them. Marcus drops a fireball to dissuade them, but this causes melting and a collapse of the icy corridor, sending the group fleeing to whatever lay on the other side of the portal, better than being crushed by ice!

The portal destroyed, the companions proceeded around a corner into a great ice cavern before them. Stalactites and stalagmites dot the cavern, floor to ceiling. A huge opening to one side reveals a winter tundra, and an ocean of ice beyond. At the far end of the cavern, a massive pile of gold, gems, jewels, and treasures of all measure lay. Atop the jaw-dropping mountain, a great, ancient winged dragon, blue and white, scaled and sleek, awoke to confront the heroes. Everyone sucked in a collective breath, realizing that it might be their last. Marcus quickly scruffed Jun-jun in order to keep the avaricious Pakasa from getting the group into even deeper trouble – if that was even possible. Ecclesiarch Agee pulled Sparky back to the relative protection of the melted hallway.

The beast advanced down the mountain of gold onto the cavern floor below. It introduced itself as Vitiator, and engaged the party in a discussion about events in the world, prior to having to kill them, although it seemed that Grull was the only one willing to talk to the creature. Vitiator wished that he did not have to kill Grull, but Grull wasn’t willing to take it up on the offer of only eating everyone else and leaving the Drakine alive. The warrior proceeded to slowly maneuver to one side, and the great dragon laughed at the Drakine’s feeble effort to outflank him, when the fighter’s effort was not to flank the drake, but rather to gain separation from the rest of the companions.

Bored with his visitors, Vitiator started the fight with a great icy breath against Grull, chilling the Drakine to the bone and dropping the great warrior to his knees. Marcus muffed his initial fireball, and Merina fell back in horror. Fayette and Maril fired arrows at the fell beast, while Kanor climbed a stalactite in order to leap upon the creature’s back. Tarot transformed his sword into a sled and used it to slide underneath the dragon for whatever advantage it might give him. Elphaba threw Sacred Flame at the evil drake.

Now Marcus, with renewed resolve, reached inside himself to hurl his greatest fireball at the ceiling of the cavern, melting stalactites and causing the ceiling of the massive cavern to begin to collapse. A rain of great hail began to fall upon them all, and Vitiator elected to fly out the cavern’s opening and escape, leaving the heroes to their grisly fate.

A cry ran out from the youngest of their number, Sparky, to “Fall back!” as the Ecclesiarch finished his spell, creating a gateway in the arch formed within the melted hallway. Tarot, with the aid of the snow leopard, Sasha, and the great wolf, Ben, hauled Grull upon the sled while the others piled through the portal, escaping the gruesome icy death.

Grull awoke in a verdant field of green, surrounded by his companions, a glowing portal back to the icy cave in Turakia formed within an arch formed by two cherry blossoms winking into non-existance. A tall, very pale man dressed in white stood before them, and the Ecclesiarch greeted him, “Hello, Essaile.”

Our heroes follow the trail of the magic-tinged wind into the Greyward Mountains, which Kanor and Fayette agree is also following the trail of the frost giants they had just encountered. Past the tree line now, the Companions climb upward until they come to a cave from which Elphaba informs them the ill wind is coming from. The entrance is guarded by two frostflails, the elemental humanoids made of ice Grull fought once back when the party battled the sharthak back at the village of Vrazha. A huge tent made for giants sits downhill a few meters from the cave.

Grull speaks with the Ecclesiarch, and Vener Agee agrees to dispense a large quantity of grain alcohol from his Everfull Mug, which is used to soak the giants’ tent. The group, now numbering fourteen, keeps the tent between them and the four meter tall frostflails. They hide behind it and a nearby boulder, while Grull and Fayette proceed inside the tent. Slitting a hole in the corner of the tent nearest the frostflails, Fayette take one shot at the nearest frostflail in order to get its attention, then running back to the rest of the companions, while Grull steps just outside the hole in the tent in order to draw the creatures to him.

The frostflails follow Grull through the hole into the tent, and Grull stands at the door, blocking it, then shouts the order to Marcus, who uses his Fiery Orb spell to send the alcohol-soaked tent up in a conflagration of flame! He strikes the two frostflails, barely affecting one while having modest success against the other. The two frostflails, unaffected by the fire, smash Grull, stunning him, but Merina, Marcus and Kanor rush in to engage the enemy and allow Grull to fall back for a moment’s respite and receive a Healing spell from Elphaba. Kanor is hit, and falls back while Grull is able to step back up.

The companions, on Gwilithon’s mark, work as a team against the frostflail Grull had success against, with Merina providing the bulk of the damage to the creature, finding its weakness and striking it multiple times in rapid succession, laying the creature low! The party followed their winning combination, finishing the second frostflail!

Recovering from the combat, now the heroes look up to the cave from whence the frigid mystical wind emanated, and wondered, “if these were but the guardians, what lay within?”

Into The Woods

The company stealthily makes its way between battalions of the orc army, following the dim waft of ill magic, a cold wind making its way down the tributary of the Corwine River to Ildra Boralis, the capitol of Elvenholme. Tasked by King Tirionsathymar, the heroes wend their towards whatever evil awaits…

Fayette, cautiously moving ahead of the group, thinks she hears something up ahead and pauses the party. Maril, at the front of the main group, sends Kanor and Sasha out one flank, and Jun-jun on the other. Proceeding forward, Kanor stops when he hears two creatures talking in an unknown language and the steady thump-thump-thump of a rhythmic drumbeat.

Returning to the group, Kanor describes what he heads up ahead. As the group debates what to do, suddenly a boulder crashes through the trees, followed by Jun-jun plus a second boulder. Suddenly, two frost giants come into view, and the fight is on!

One giant runs forward and slices Benwolf nearly in two with his great axe. The other casts a spell, laying a field of ice across the ground where the heroes stood, making it difficult to move. Marcus, reacting in anger to Ben’s injury, tries to drop a fireball on the ice wielder, but misses the target, causing the rest of the group to dive for cover, dropping the spell too close to his own party! Grull was the one who stood his ground, his full plate armor and the protection of the newly acquired Verse-Sword negating the effects of the fireball, while Marcus took no damage from his own spell due to the power of his Elemental Bulwark. Tarot quickly deployed his Sword of Useful Functions in kayak form and hid underneath it, while everyone else dove away from the fiery blast. The best part of the fireball was that it negated the ice field, and the companions had footing once more.

It took a moment, but Fayette, Grull, and Merina took down the first giant, and soon after, the second one fell to the heroes as well. Realizing that the fireball had likely drawn the attention of the nearby orc battalions, the heroes made the decision to press forward with their quest, knowing that the fate of Elvenholme could be at stake.

In a couple of hours, the group had passed the tree line into the Greyward Mountains. In the distance, they spied a large cave, with a pair of frostflails for guards, and the emanation of magic coming from within…

King Tirionsathymar

The companions and Ecclesiarch Vener Agee’s caravan follow the Corwine River south until the come to the true old growth forest at the heart of Elvenholme. They meet elves processing refugees coming through the area. They are delayed several hours until Fayette’s cousin Maril arrives to bail them out of bureaucratic nightmares.

Maril escorts them to the council chambers where the meet King Tirionsathymar, Elvenking these last six-plus centuries. He tells the players the story of Kal-Turak, born nearly seventeen centuries ago, the greatest evil to ever live. Eighty-seven years ago, he sundered the untamed North, creating the wall that holds his name, separating Turakia from the remainder of Ambrethel.

Suddenly, an ill wind blew its way down the Corwine, sending a chill through those in the council chambers. Something born of evil magics attempts to claim the homeland of the elves. The Elvenking asks Grull and company to seek out the source of this great evil, and send it back from whence it came.

Do You Believe?

Two days into Elvenholme, the caravan comes to a halfling village, Waypoint. The village is empty save for one last family trying to pack quickly in order to get out. Their pony and sled full of furs are out front, and sounds of people are coming from the barn. Merina heads back towards the barn.

Meanwhile, Tarot, followed by Shell, walk over to the pony. Its name is Merry, and it wants Tarot to “save Impy.”

Reaching the barn, Merina meets a halfling furrier, Daryl Furman, and his eight-year old daughter, Berry. They are gathering the best furs together to add to the pile already on the cart. Berry tries to sneak back to the house, but Daryl calls her back to carry some of the furs to the sled.

At the sled, Berry implores her father not to forget Impy. He tells her that she’ll find a new imaginary friend when they get to someplace safe to settle. Berry cries and runs into the house, followed by Merina.

Grull and Tarot head over to the Half-Pint Pub to see if anyone is still there. Finding no one, they liberate a cask of beer to “keep the orcs from getting it.”

In Berry’s bedroom, a cup falls from a shelf with no one near it. Berry tells Merina that Impy can’t leave the house. Merina believes that there may be some sort of ghost or spirit here, and goes out to tell the others.

Elphaba wishes aloud that there was a wizard nearby that they could enlist to help, which jogs Fayette’s memory of a wizard who lives in a clearing northeast of here. Elphaba asks Shell if he would fly Fayette there to ask him to help, and he agrees. Grull asks his squire, Sparky, to go into the house and see if he can see the creature.

Fayette takes off to locate the wizard, and Elphaba send her Crystalline Bird to carry a request to the wizard. Sparky returns to tell Grull that indeed, he can see the creature, a short, spindly humanoid with long droopy ears and pointed nose, wearing a dress that looks as if it would fit an eight-year old halfling girl.

Daryl goes into the house to retrieve his wayward child. Merina tries to tell Berry that she will make sure Impy gets freed and comes to find her. The eight-year old has a grand, throw down on the floor and kick-and-scream meltdown, to be picked up by her father and carried towards the front door.

In a clearing some ways northeast of Waypoint, a young elf tends to the plants and animals when a bird made of crystal arrives. It keeps flying into something in the center of the clearing and crashing to the ground. Finally, the elf picks it up and opens an invisible door to go ask his tutor what it means. The bird flies up from his hand and flies inside and out of sight. Yelling can be heard in the distance. By the time he reaches his mentor’s chamber, something has happened, and his mentor tells the adept, “go to the roof and flag down the elf on a pegasus flying in from the south.”

Reaching the roof, there is indeed an elf on a pegasus flying in from the south. The adept signals the elf by firing a lightning bolt into the sky. Defensively, the elf draws her bow and stands on the back of the pegasus. But when the pegasus makes its turn to land, the elf falls from the back of the pegasus, hurtling towards the ground. But the adept casts his flight spell, catching the elf girl and falling semi-controlled into the top of the tower. After hasty introductions, Gwilithon leads Fayette to see the wizard Calariastarianath. When he opens the hatch, the little crystal bird flies past them, headed back to its owner.

Meanwhile, Marcus has proceeded inside, only to discover that he cannot see the creature. Kanor has attempted to follow, but has managed to get himself stuck in the doorway. Marcus and Merina have to push him back out the doorway. Elphaba can see the creature, where the others cannot.

When the pair reach the wizard, he is busy scribing a scroll. Once he finishes, he hands it to Gwilithon and tells him that he should travel with this elf and her group, and see what help Tirionsathymar (the king) needs. He shan’t need the adept back before the end of the decade. So the adept gathers his possessions, and the pair fly back to Waypoint.

The halfling furrier and his distraught daughter are finally ready to leave when the pegasus and the two elves return from the wizard’s tower. The pair dismount, and Gwilithon unfurls the scroll given him by his mentor, only to find a snarky message instructing the student to dispel the binding spell holding the sprite to the house. The house sprite is free, and goes with Berry, after Merina bids her goodbye, with a parting message to “always believe in Impy, and he will always be there for you.”

Returning to the village of Elrin after defeating the evils of the Barrow-Mound, the company discovers a caravan consisting of the newly-elevated Ecclesiarch of Valicia passing through the town en route to Gwinden Abbey to be invested by Bonifact Santarin himself. All of the rooms in the inn are taken, so our heroes are forced to rent the loft of a barn on the edge of town in which to spend the night.

The entire village is being enlisted by the village reeve to put on a feast for the Ecclesiarch, easily the highest ranking religious personage they have ever seen in the tiny town. But the company’s contribution in ridding the area of the Barrow-Mound cannot be ignored, and so the reeve invites them to the feast in the town square.

At the feast, the group discovers that the new Ecclesiarch is none other than the venerable Vener Agee, former Archoth of Farnth, who very nearly oversaw the wedding of Lady Sharena Langwurt (a.k.a. Elphaba) to Randarath Khrom, twenty-third in line to the throne of King Zargorath Khrom of Valicia, in the summer of 5001. The doddering old man warmly greets the company, and a fine feast was had by all. The company agrees to escort the Ecclesiarch to Elvenholme, and Elphaba offers to escort him all the way to Gwinden Abbey.

The caravan sets forth, and two days later the come across an empty watchtower at the border. Tarot spies what may be an advancing army in the foothills to the north north-west. The next day, Fayette greets two of her countrymen guarding the border, and the company passes into Elvenholme at last.

The story unveiled at last! 25 July 2014

Elphaba studies the black sphere and the magic circle, concluding that the black sphere is the manifestation of a curse, and that breaking the circle would release the curse – for weal or woe. Grull and Marcus decide to switch places in the marching order – Grull agrees with Elphaba’s suspicions about Karol, and wants Marcus to keep an eye on him.

Grull leads the company through the door the intelligent undead construct ran through at the end of the battle in the room with the black sphere. After a short hallway, the party finds an ornate crypt with another group of zombies, this time armed with high-quality and magic weapons and armor. The company assumed a line near the door where they could defend each other. Merina had a terrible run of bad luck, dropping her sword Kesh, slipping and falling down, and breaking her sword. Grull moved in to assist and lost his balance as well. Elphaba and Fayette assist Marcus, Kanor, and Jun-jun on the opposite flank.

It takes time, whittling away at the zombies, but little by little, the heroes gain the upper hand, laying the undead to their final rest. The companions are amazed to discover the wealth of magic items contained in the tomb. But Grull is concerned that the zombie master wasn’t in the room, and determines to search the remainder of the barrow mound.

The party enters the room north of the black sphere, and find a throne with a well-accoutered mummy seated upon the throne. A shade appears at the foot of the dais, and asks Karol to release the two of them. Karol reveals himself to be a shade possessing the body of a thief who attempted to rob the tomb. The trapped shades, Veros, a paladin-king, and Pharnac, a necromancer and tyrant, fought each other in a great war. As Veros at long last defeated the evil sorcerer, Pharnac spat out a final curse, binding the two shades for eternity. And as Veros has refused to leave the barrow mound for the last 2500 years, so too was Pharnac trapped within. When the thief Karol tried to rob the tomb, Pharnac saw a chance to escape his imprisonment by convincing nearby adventurers to destroy the sphere and thereby the curse itself, releasing him.

Mulling over how to keep Pharnac from escaping, Kesh tells them to kill the possessed thief, and Pharnac will leave the possessed body. They can then safely destroy the circle, sending both spirits to the afterlife. The heroes “kill” Karol, Pharnac flees the body screaming. Grull smashes the magic circle, ending the curse and releasing the two shades. Veros gives the heroes two last gifts, a greatsword and a shield, and disappears.

Returning to the town of Elrin, the companions find a religious procession passing through the town, and the very important person is none other than Vener Agee, now the Ecclesiarch of Valicia, having been promoted to the head of the High Church in the region since the party last saw him back at Elphaba’s wedding. The doddering elderly priest is enroute to Gwinden Abbey to meet with the Bonifact himself.

Misshapen undead constructs, 11 July 2014

Proceeding ahead, the company, along with the rescued Karol, enter what appears to be a shrine to Kilbern, though horribly defaced and overwritten with sigils from the death god, Mordak. Grull determines to clean this area as best he can before proceeding. Karol suggests that perhaps they should move on and rid the mound of evil, then come back and clean up afterwards. The remainder of the company pitch in and they do what they can, under the circumstances, to tidy the area before continuing.

Jun-jun hears something in the hallway. Grull throws open the door, only to find several odd necromantic constructs in the hallway. One larger construct orders the others to charge the party. Marcus chucks a fireball down there and toasts them before they can reach the group, and while they make short work of the undead, the leader escapes down the hallway, calling for reinforcements in a nearby room to attack the party. The heroes make short work of these additional creatures before pursuing.

Following the larger construct, the heroes enter a octagonal room with four doors and a large swirling mass of black energy inside a magic circle in the center. The door to the north is inscribed with an enchanted sigil warding off incorporeal undead. There are another ten undead constructs, including the leader, within, and they attack the party. Too small to dump a fireball first, the heroes have to wade in and get their swords dirty on this one. Karol tells Elphaba that the black sphere looks to be the source of the evil he has sought, and that they must destroy it in order to rid the burial mound of its curse, but Elphaba mistrusts this. Before they can reach the leader, he escapes once more through the western exit.

Undead and more, 20 June 2014

The heroes open the door out of the room with the sarcophagi, and enter a hallway with a door at either end. Near one of the doors lies a fellow named Karol. His group entered the complex to rid the area of the undead, and encountered the zombies in the first room like the companions did. Karol opened the door to the hallway while his friends fought, but suffered a grievous wound in the process. He closed the door behind him to keep the zombie from following him to kill him, knowing that his friends would come to his aid shortly… except they never did.

Elphaba heals the fellow, who insists he should accompany the party to finish the quest he began.

On the way to Elvenholme, 13 June 2014

Our heroes enter the hamlet of Elrin, on the border between Umbr and Elvenholme. They hear rumors of a circle of death in the woods not far from the village. Traveling there, they discover a swath of death and destruction which their animals will not enter. Leaving the animals with Tarot and Sparky, the others forge into the diseased wood to investigate.

They fight a misshapen undead made from parts of a cow, a bison, and a human. Either necromancy or evil divine magics are at work here, but whose? The companions come across a barrow mound at the center of the circle of desolation. A small tunnel winds its way into the first room, where the heroes quickly dispatch four zombies.

Wound Licking and Other Pursuits, 30 May 2014

Following their defeat at the Foundry, the companions make a litter for the gravely wounded Jun-jun and travel the day-plus back to Cragswell, where they stop to attend to their wounds before moving on. They request an audience with Lord Hendry, and sup with him and his men that evening. Also arriving is Ur-Gruk, the half-orc trader they rescued from over-zealous villagers several days before. The merchant tells them that he is headed to parts east for a time, as the current conflict is making conducting trade hazardous. The companions share their tales from the recent battle, and Grull begins to realize that more happened in the combat than he first surmised. More resolved than ever to report to King Sendres, he offers to travel with the half-orc for as long as their paths match, and Ur-Gruk is grateful for the companionship, while Fayette grumbles a bit, but is willing to work on her dislike of orcs.

In just over a week, the party finds itself at Jevrain Abbey, where King Sendres is assembling his army for what he expects will be a campaign season against the orcs. The companions are granted an audience, where they report the events of the last few weeks, including demand of the rogue Drusaidi Shanir, Argill Sandoval, that King Sendres be told that the orcs have no desire to war against the Umbrians this campaign season, the orcs intent is to war with Elvenholme.

The king sees this as a dilemma. He has many influential nobles to keep happy, and presumably some of them do not wish to engage in a war until they have to do so. Grull and Sendres discuss the practical needs of Grull not knowing what actions the king will take next.

The group then meets with the commander of the Drusaidi Shanir, Ransel, and the king’s vizier, Cowl. Ransel confirms that the near miss was very likely deliberate, while Cowl describes the magical effect Elphaba witnessed as a Sorcery spell, Mind Torment. They conclude that someone else is likely controlling Sandoval. Cowl tells them that there are only a handful of sorcerers in all of Ambrethel capable of controlling someone remotely in the manner the companions describe.

The heroes take a few days to rest up and learn from the residents of the abbey and the skilled warriors in the army before continuing their journey to the seat of the elves, Ildra Boralis.

Battle At The Foundry

After the fight against the orcs in the village, Grull and Tarot raise Lord Hendry’s banner over the burned out community once more. Merina and Marcus discover a young soldier alive amidst the chaotic scene inside the tower, while Elphaba, Kanor, and Fayette find a small child outside wandering around. A cat rushes into the tower after the carnage to proceed to give birth to kittens.

It is decided to return to Cragswell and drop off the two people they rescued before moving on. On the way, the heroes come across tracks from a heavily laden cart drawn by a giant wolf and guarded by orcs. They note the location and determine to return after they have dropped off their charges.

Two days later, the return to the tracks to realize that they are quite close to where the strange well they had discovered previously was located. The party decide to follow the tracks backward in order to discover where they came from and what they were carrying.

They follow the hill around to a clearing which both Grull and Merina declared was a perfect spot for an ambush. They had Fayette out on flank to watch for attackers, and Elphaba discovered that a large section of the hill was a big illusion! It was then that the ambush was sprung, with a shot at Fayette from across the field that was so close to a direct hit in her eye – might the archer have missed on purpose? But she could not find his location.

Orcs, ogres, and worgs, accompanied by a human spell caster of some sort, charged out to attack the heroes. Marcus led off with a fireball, and everyone stayed in a loose formation to react to what the enemy was doing, but even though they took down several, the numbers game became too much for the overconfident band. Jun-jun fell, and Marcus pulled him away, but it took a crucial fighter out at an important moment. Tarot dropped one, and Elphaba two with some teamwork, Fayette got the priest, Merina, Kanor, Sasha, and Benwolf held the left flank.

A scream and a flash of mind magic came from the brush where the mysterious rogue Drusaidi Shanir, Argill Sandoval, appeared to offer the a truce to the heroes that he might not lose most of his forces in the effort to kill the party. Terms given were that the heroes return to King Sendres and inform him that the orcs have no intention to war against the humans this year. Their grievances are with the elves. For that, the company may depart freely to treat their wounded and return to the Crown March.

While they company might well have held and won the day, the cost in life would have been terrible, and only a few would have likely survived. So given the possible outcomes, Grull elected the option that allowed everyone, friend and foe, to live in order to fight another day, and the Companions retreated from the Greyward Mountains.

Against The Orcs

Avoiding the strange well seemingly out in the middle of nowhere, the company travels for several hours before coming across smoke rising in the distance. Traveling toward it, they find a village being sacked by a small decade of orcs, an ogre, and a worg. They decide to attack the band, and a moment later, have slaughtered them all. Only then does Tarot think to question whether they might have left one alive to interrogate it.

The heroes decide that the orcs likely didn’t mask their trail coming to the village, and intend to track them backwards in order to find from whence they came.

Prelude To War

The companions met with Lord Hendry, who pointed them in the direction of a half-orc trader, Ur-Gruk. Tracking him down, they found him being lynched by an angry mob of refugees. Upon rescuing him, he leads them to a well, seemingly randomly placed in the mountains with no particular purpose. They investigated the well, finding a tunnel in the bottom that had a warm, sulfurous breeze emanating from it. Grull could get no one interested in investigating it further, and abandoned the idea.

A day later, the company comes across a village being sacked by the orcs, and they charge to the rescue…

In the city of Vetróas, the companions meet with Alain, the member of the Drusaidi Shanir who watches over The Crown March. He explains the history of the region, from the breakup of the great kingdom of Carshalt forward to the conquest of the kingdoms of Jevrain and Derethon at the hands of the sons of the first great Umbrian king, Selvaine Aliere, approximately 2500 years ago. It was then that Derethon was renamed The Crown March, signifying that the region now belonged to the crown of Umbr.

Since that time, the Marchers, as they are now called, distrust the “lowlanders,” viewing them as soft and unused to the harsh mountain life. Marquis Avaine holds the March in fief from Castle Derethon. Alain explains that he will do what he can to spread the word of the trustworthiness of Grull and his company throughout the region, but the Marchers are likely to be standoffish and aloof towards strangers asking questions.

It takes a week to reach Castle Derethon. Encountering a difficult Sergeant-of-the-Watch, Grull presents the writ given him by King Laudrec Sendres, and the company is taken to see Marquis Avaine. He tells them that the word coming from the region is dire. Several remote villages have already been sacked by the orcs, with dozens slain and many more having fled to more secure areas to the east.

He recommends following the supply chain. Orcs need supplies in order to prepare for war. One caravan carrying many weapons has already been captured, but more will be needed. Avaine suggests visiting the keep of Lord Hendry at the western end of the March for names and places. Perhaps that will aid the heroes in their search for the missing Drusaidi Shanir, Argill.

After the audience, the company discusses needing the sent a message to the Elves. It is decided that the Elves will respond best to one of their own, so Maril will leave the group to travel to Elvenholme and inform them of events in the Marches, and how this may effect the preparations for defense against the orcish armies.

Winter, 5002: Marcus gets a knock at his door in the Ilurian. It is an adept from the Amberstar Guild, with a request from High Magister Selgorath that Marcus return to the guild for an audience. Upon his return, the wizard informs him that with a favorable missive from King Sendres of Umbr, and in recognition of the company having saved the city from harm, Selgorath is willing to forgo his typical remuneration on this unique occasion, and undertake the effort to try and help the wild mage fine tune one of his abilities. The guild has a fire mage, Jaelen, who is willing to undertake the effort.

Over the winter, Marcus learn to adjust his physical gestures as well as incorporate a material component in lieu of the need to use his shield as a crutch in order to focus his magical energies through it, all to be able to use the protection from fire spell on others as well as himself. He also learned that, since his spells have no verbal component, unlike other mages, his spells are unaffected by magically created silence, a valuable trick, as up until now he had always assumed that, like wizards, he could not use his magical abilities under those adverse conditions. And, like much of magic, the mage’s ability to invoke a spell is directly affected by his belief in his skill with the Art.

With the coming of spring and Firstthaw, the company departs up the Dragonsmoke River to the capital city of Dyvnar, where they are briefed by the head of the Drusaidi Shanir in Umbr and liaison to King Sendres, Ransel. He describes in detail the highly exclusive nature of the organization, and the few of their numbers needed in Umbr to watch their frontiers: two in the Thurisian Mountains, one (plus an apprentice) along the Dragonsmoke River border with the troll kingdom of Tharnrek, one in the Crown March, one in the Greyward Mountains, plus Ransel posted to Dyvnar in order to coordinate the organization’s activities with King Sendres.

The Drusaidi Shanir scout and protect the wilderness areas of the country from monsterous intruders and potential attackers. They eliminate the threat where possible, and give advance warning to nobles and kings when the forces are too great. In war, they scout troop movements and eliminate advance enemy units. Many captains would rather face an entire troop of enemy forces than a single determined Drusaidi Shanir.

Ransel provides Grull with a writ from the king, instructing Marquis Avaine of Castle Derethon in the Crown March to aid the company in whatever way is needed to stop his rogue agent and the army of orcs ready to descend upon Umbr. If they cannot, King Sendres’ army will sit at the ready near Jevrain Abbey, ready to come to the defense of the Marches.

And thus the company sets forth for the city of Vetróas, in the Jevrain region on the edge of the Crown March, to seek local information prior to entering the Marches.

Audience with King Sendres of Umbr

Crossing the River Whitburn into Umbr, the companions discover the camp (and army) of King Laudrec Sendres waiting for them. Ushered into the pavillion of his majesty, the company finally completes their quest to see the artifact Spear of Vergaine delivered safely into the king’s hands.

The king tells them of a renegade Drusadi Shanir who may be connected to the current overall mission to aid Elvenholme against an army of orcs forming in the Greyward Mountains. This renegade now prepares the orcs to attack Umbr from their homes in the Greyward Mountains. King Sendres believes that the army may find aid in the Crown March, where the Marchers distrust the “lowlanders” who conquered the old kingdom of Derethon centuries ago.

While the Marchers would quickly identify and Umbrian agents in their province, a group of adventurers would not. Perhaps the heroes might learn details about orc army or armies by traveling there?

The Companions at last stumble in to Dar Vendrazhian, but not until a brief encounter with a group of bandits where they chose to negotiate their way out of a confrontation in their weakened state.

In the city, the company gets a tour from Jack, a jester they encountered at the city gates. After a night’s sleep, the group splits to set about their various need within the city.

Fayette and Maril went into the nearby forest and met with Eran, who told them that the orcs and goblins were building up along the northern border of Elvenholme in the Greyward Mountains, and that if something wasn’t done soon, war could break out.

Merina bought appropriate winter weather clothes at the bazaar and discovered that her father had been through Dar Vendrazhian just that very spring, with a cryptic comment about the ruined city of Iluria.

Tarot and Simeon stayed in the bar and picked up some rumors, one about an army encamped across the river from the city, and another about a death cult taking up residence in the ruined city of Iluria.

Marcus went to the Amberstar Guild with Jun-jun and Benwolf. He found that he can purchased charms to aid the debilitation caused by the blood demon, but it will cost magic items to persuade High Magister Selgorath to enchant them for him. Also, he’s too old to partake in formal mage training, but the guild would be willing to work with him in order to improve or otherwise alter one of his existing spells.

Elphaba and Grull pay a visit to the cathedral of Essaille Remagen, patron of Dar Vendrazhian. They talk to Templar Melioth, Favored of Kilbern, about blood demons and the Spear of Vergaine. Privately, Grull seeks spiritual guidance and talks about the need to finish the mission he has been given, balanced against the need to get healthy again in order to finish the mission. Melioth suggests once the spear has been delivered, that Grull pilgrimmage to Gwinden Abbey in the Mhendarian Palatinate in order to find his calling. Grull seems uncertain about why he would need to travel there in order to learn more about the High Church. Meanwhile, Elphaba meets with falman Ari, who is also a magus within the Amberstar Guild, and the liaison between the two organizations. He tells her about the Shield of the Soul, a spell which can help her protect the company from the major effects of blood demons and other infernal powers in the future.

After the day’s errands, the group meets back at the Ilurian (the inn) to discuss their immediate plans. During their meal, a greenish-grey pallor falls over everything in the inn save the company. Suddenly, everyone seems ensorceled and coming to take the spear from them! Trying not to kill anyone, the party discovers that throwing water on an affected person will break the black magic. Wrapping the spear in bed clothes to hide in, the companions return to the cathedral, where they are able to free the staff from the strange magic, and discover that it is likely the benefit of the spear that kept the company safe from the mind control spell. With the aid of Templar Melioth and falman (magus) Ari, they free the Amberstar Guild, and High Magister Selgorath makes it rain over the city, releasing the majority from the magic.

The Road To Dyvnar

After saying goodbyes to taal Aura Mirelle, who predicted that the Spear of Vergaine was a magnet that would provide naught but trouble for the companions, the heroes set out for a brief stop in Dar Enroqe before pushing on towards their destination, Dyvnar, to pass the Spear into the hands of its rightful owner, King Sendres of Umbr.

A few days later, about halfway between Tashorn and Dar Vendrazhian, the party was attacked on the open road by a group of trolls led by a blood demon! The blood demon took down both Marcus and Grull with his blood-draining touch, leaving the very fate of the companions in peril, until the archers, Fayette and Maril, filled the blood-engorged demon full of holes and sending it back to whatever hell it came from while Merina wrested the spear away as she struggled with the monster for control of the artifact.

Now the fate of our heroes is in doubt as Elphaba races off to Dar Vendrazhian with Marcus to try and seek help from the terrible wasting put upon them by the blood demon…

Against the Sharthak, part 2

The heroes hope that the sharthak are bold enough to answer the call to battle Grull made when he fired a lightning bolt from the Spear of Vergaine into the night sky. They survey the terrain, adopt positions, and wait for the assault. The storm cloud again gather overhead as they did against the Kraken, and the fight is on!

Sharthak approach the village from both the south and the north. The group from the south engages the heroes almost immediately. Tarot gets stabbed by two of the shark-men and falls back. Simeon gives up his pit trap to save the bard, while Grull holds steady in the shed, awaiting the inevitable attack from the dark waters of Lake Beralka.

Giant crabs come ashore, and a figure made of ice strides forth from the water to confront the Drakine hero. It smashes Grull with its flail, forcing the warrior to adopt a defensive posture and wait for help. The remainder of the company rout the sharthak, but no one seems to be able to do more than chip away at the icy fighter. Finally, the battle comes to a draw as the ice man withdraws back into the sea.

Setting The Trap

After a hasty patch job, Father Jobo limps the Sea Ghost to port in Dar Enroqe. Grull buys a week’s worth of cooling spells for the ship and crew, and arranges meetings with representatives from Keldravia and Szarvasia to warn them that someone seems to be trying to start a war. The Keldravian takes a skeptical view of the concept. But the Szarvasian thanks the company and clues them in to a village, Vrazha, two days south along the Lake Beralka coast where the sharthak occasionally come to trade for a few tridents and daggers. Grull asks for a wagon, and the companions, along with Benwolf and the pegasus, and carrying the Spear of Vergaine with them, travel to the tiny village.

There, Grull and Simeon sack out in the wagon so that they can post guard all night, while the others repair to the bar, where Fayette thinks they are being watched. Tarot talks to a cat, who tells them that the smith is visited by the shark people. Elphaba goes to the village shrine while the others go to the smithy. It is night, the smithy is closed. The group decides to wake Grull and decide what to do next. The pegasus suggests to Tarot that if they are trying to lure the sharthak, they should show off the artifact to draw attention. Grull elects to take the group over to the shrine to consult with the village priest. Talking to the priestess, taal Aura Mirelle, they find an inscription on the spear head. Grull whispers a prayer to Kilbern, and a great gout of lightning erupts into the night sky!

Attack Of The Sharthak

Impressing the stranger they met in the bar into service as a method of keeping him out of the hands of the local constabulary, Tarot joins the company. Within a couple of days, the ship is set upon by a Keldravian Naval vessel and the Kraken! Tarot, who speaks with animals, discovers he can communicate with the Kraken, who follows the orders of the holder of the conch shell the enemy mage wears. The forces are split fairly evenly, and the mage aboard the enemy ship breaks off the fight. As they do, the “Keldravians” are revealed to be sharthak, the shark people. The Sea Ghost is damaged, however, and limps the remaining distance to Dar Enroqe.

Father Jobo has found a dwarf, Simeon Strongknife, who wishes to take passage aboard the Sea Ghost as far as Dyvnar, in Umbr. As the ship prepares to set sail, Grull receives a message that draws him away. He will catch up with the party in Helvoca, Mircasëa in a few days. After several days under sail, the company encounters a damaged ship, the Black Eagle, split nearly in half on a sandbar only a day short of Helvoca. The few survivors tell our heroes a harrowing tale of attack by the Keldravian Navy and the fabled Lake Beralka Kraken! The attackers seemed to think the destroyed ship was transporting the legendary Spear of Vergaine. Hey, what’s in that box the dwarf brought aboard with him?

Meanwhile, Grull meets up with Pokrath, unusually in disguise on this occasion. He delivers a message from Grull’s father Krandol, who warns his son not to be too hasty about returning to Basidrun any time soon, as the Syndics are considering having Grull arrested and turned over to Valicia in order to calm the current tensions between the two countries.

The ship makes port in Helvoca, and the group promptly get in a bar fight with a group of Keldravian Naval crew and the survivors from the Black Eagle. Grull arrives just in time to make the brawl short.

The Oncoming Storm

Meeting some of King Boldisar’s senior officers and nobles, the company is permitted to reside in the castle for several weeks while they recover from their wounds.

Grull meets a couple of the castle’s warriors, and drills with them, learning advanced techniques in disarming opponents.

Elphaba meets the Warden and the archoth of the king’s forest, the Vaas Presova, where she has an odd meeting of all of the forest’s enchanted creatures; centaurs, a treeman, fae, a forest spirit, minikin, a dryad, a unicorn and a pegasus. All are aware that a great evil is descending upon the land, and the fae are leaving this world for their own. What this means is not clear.

Sasha begs Marcus to take a sack of coin to a local address, where he meets a small Erqigdlit boy, Sasha’s son, Sparky. He defends the lad from several local bullies, but gets him kicked out of his residence in the process. Marcus takes him to the castle. As soon as Grull discovers the circumstances, he offers Sparky to join the Companions as his personal squire.

Maril brings Fayette a gift of hand-carved leather greaves and vambraces to supplement her armor.

Merina finds that the palace chirurgeon met her father, because he has previously seen the tattoo she and her father both wear.

After three weeks, the company has recovered, and has their long-awaited audience with King Boldisar. Fayette learns that she and Maril are related, they are both from the Illurifir line of elves. The King tells them that the stones that they delivered to him were pieces of a long-lost artifact, a gate that would open to the realm where the Demon Prince of Foulness dwells. It is best to leave it here in the castle, lest any should try to use it to wreak evil upon the world.

Ambuscade!

The Sea Ghost stops in the city of Banska-Morav, at the mouth of the Ordring River, and just across the border into Szarvasia. (This is where the company first hears the name Grull’s Companions, probably bestowed upon them by the bard Pokrath in his songs about his encounters with the heroes.) There they meet a man named Ivanov, who has a caravan he is trying to get to the capitol, Velkathy-Tashan, and needs a group of experienced professionals to see to its safety. The party accepts, and meets the other partner of the caravan, a female Erqigdlit named Sasha. Halfway between the two cities, along the Beralka Road, the camp is set upon at night by a group of religious fanatics with poisoned daggers, two giant poisonous snakes, a pair of priests devoted to Mordak, the god of death, and a poisonous Serpent Demon. The companions are nearly destroyed by the onslaught; Fayette, Merina, Jun-jun, and Sasha are gravely injured, many teamsters died in the defense, and the team is sore pressed to get the caravan to the capitol.

Farewell, Saltham Shore

Our heroes have returned to the village of Saltham Shore once more, after thwarting King Zaargorath Khrom’s plan to marry his 23rd son, Randarath Khrom, to the daughter of Count Linder Langwurt by killing the grand vizier Wurnalith. A revel most grand is held in the group’s honor, with Lady Sharena Langwurt the honored guest at the festivities.

As the festivities wind on, the village reeve, Gresham Lott, arrives. He informs Lady Langwurt that Lord Dhiamus sends his regards, and regrets that he was unable to receive her on this trip. However, he wishes her to be aware that a rider arrived this morning in Fanth, seeking information upon her whereabouts. King Khrom is most anxious to speak with her about the death of his vizier and his missing son. Lord Dhiamus anticipates receiving instructions on the morrow to escort Lady Langwurt to Valicia City to audience with the King. It is regrettable that Lord Dhiamus will inform his majesty that Lady Langwurt and her company left on her vessel prior to the royal messenger’s arrival, destination unknown.

Can Civil War Be Stopped?

Five armies: the lizardmen Seshurma and frogmen Ran-Tari from the Shaanda River delta swamp, and an army of men who live in the cities along that great river, facing off against the Valician defenders of the city and the mercenary company, the Drakine’s Regal Axes. The handmaiden is saved, but the city is under siege! Grull and Marcus sortie out from the city to leverage their personal relationship with the Seshurma to try and negotiate a settlement. While the Seshurma cannot speak for the other two attacking armies, they let Grull know that he still has a few short hours before the attack is scheduled to commence.

Meanwhile, Lady Langwurt and Randarath discuss how neither one of them wishes to be wed, and that they have been pushed by forces outside of their control.

The Wedding!

The male bridal party: Count Irolo, the captain of the Valician Guards, and two guardsmen, enter from an anteroom at the side of the temple. The music flourishes, and the doors at the entrance of the chapel open, revealing the bride, Lillian, and her four guardswoman retinue. King Khrom’s vizier sits in the front row. The ceremony proceeds until the inevitable “Does anyone object…” line, when the doors at the end of the chapel burst open, and a Valician Guardsman mounted on horseback charges up to the altar. He announces that the city is attacked! Three armies, one of men, one of the lizardmen Seshurma, and one of the frogmen Ran-Tari, surround Farnth!

The guardsmen leave, as do the Drakine’s Regal Axes. The guardswomen are left behind to protect the bride. Guests hastily exit. Chaos is the order of the moment. The opportunity is now! The heroes rush the dais and the King’s wizard. The wizard teleports away… to the choir loft, unawares that Fayette is in hiding there! She puts two arrows into his neck, and the mage falls from the loft to the chapel below, stone dead.

And We're Gonna Get Married!

Elphaba, Merina, and Fayette meet a doddering old priest, Vener Agee, archoth of the cathedral and the priest who will be conducting the wedding ceremony. Lady Langwurt knows the old priest, as she met him not only on affairs of the county, but when she was a young girl seeking her studies in life. The archoth (then only shalan) interviewed her prior to recommending her to the local druidic circle. He is of very poor sight. Does he recognize the lady, despite her disguise? If so, he hides it well, and speaks in cryptic terms.

Meanwhile, Grull, Marcus, and Jun-jun are forced to hide among the crates as a party of bumblebees passes through the storeroom. This would appear to be Randarath Khrom, 23rd in line to the throne of Valicia, his retinue, and the groom, Count Linder Langwurt of County Irolo. They pass through without noticing the heroic trio, and leave. That was close! Now, where did Jun-jun disappear to this time?

As the distaff heroes attempt to return to the storeroom, they come to the attention of several women of the Valician Guard, who take them away. The bridal party is about to arrive, and these female attendants need to help Lillian prepare for her wedding. The plan is for her to arrive, and almost immediately be walked down the aisle!

Jun-jun returns to the storeroom with a Drakine kilt and a battleaxe. The Drakine’s Regal Axes are in attendance for the wedding, and now Grull has a disguise to look as if he is part of that group. The trio decide to set out from the storeroom to try and find Randarath and convince him of the folly of the wedding.

The women meet Lillian, but are unable to communicate with her because of the presence of the guardswomen. The cathedral bells sound that the ceremony is about to begin!

The fellows come up the rear stairs of the wing to surreptitiously reach Randarath and Count Irolo, but as they enter the hallway, they see the heir and his retinue at the far end, headed downstairs to the main chapel. They attempt to catch up, but the retinue enters the temple as the heroes come up behind them.

All of the Companions are able to position themselves wherever they want in the crowd before the ceremony begins. Fayette’s mysterious stranger suddenly approaches her, hands her his staff, with instructions on how to use it. It suddenly becomes a longbow, and the elven archer repairs to the choir loft. They note at least three individuals that they know in the crowd: Lord Jarl Ambergris, met in Woodford while the company were looking for a dragon; the wandering Drakine bard, Pokrath, on the dais playing his instrument for the ceremony; and the mysterious stranger Fayette has caught glimpses of over the months, now very obviously of elven ancestry.

Sailing up the coast, the heroes set course to Saltham Shore. Making their way overland to Farnth, they use disguise to sneak their way into the city. They have arrived on the day of the nuptials. They have to work their way through the crowds to the cathedral, sneaking in the side entrance onto the cathedral grounds, and into a storeroom in the wing of the building down from the main temple. In the storeroom they find ceremonial robes for the wedding. Elphaba, Merina, and Fayette use them to disguise themselves and reconnoiter through the cathedral (although Fayette is forced to leave her beloved longbow behind). Grull, Marcus, and Jun-jun are stuck in the storeroom awaiting their return.

George Is Missing!

In Frajele, the companions are approached by a local shepherd, a young male Drakine. He has heard the heroes help people with problems, and he needs help. George is missing! Of course, George is a giant lizard. Elphaba talks to George’s friend Martha (yep, another giant lizard). George loves eating grapes! So they find George in the vineyard, threatened by a pack of wolves. They convince the wolves that there is easier prey elsewhere. George is saved!

The 13th Syndic

The Companions sail to Chiref, looking for lady Lillian and the Alkax. Jun-jun is still in a coma, but Father Jobo will stay with him aboard the Sea Ghost. The Alkax is in port, but retaking her is the hard part. Grull finds that the new captain, Karras, is not aboard at the present time, but is uptown at the Draco Majoris, an upscale restaurant, tenement house, and bath house for the upper crust of Drakine society.

Traveling there, they discover that Karras is in a lunch/meeting with Rondas, a merchant of high regard in the capitol.

Finding Ferd

Our heroes find a large, unlit bonfire prepared on the shore of an island along the Drakine Coast. Most of the company disembarks, leaving Elphaba on the Sea Ghost.

Grull, Marcus, Fayette, Merina, and Jun-jun find signs of habitation. Someone has been here a few weeks, at least. They find a trail leading up into the interior of the island. Someone has been dragged through here!

Following the path, they come across a clearing, some kind of simple setting with several small posts set about the perimeter of the circle, and an enormous stone statue with bejeweled eyes at the far end. Ferd is tied to one of the pillars!

Seeing no one present but fearing a trap, Grull holds the path while the others circle around the outside. Where did Jun-jun disappear to now? Meri frees Ferd, but Fayette is swarmed by tons of flying insects with miniature human riders!

Grull spots Jun-jun, trying to pry one of the jeweled eyes from the large stone statue, only to have it come to life! Jun-jun jumps away, but the golem pounds the cat with an enormous stone bowl, leaving the Pakasa crushed in the midst of the clearing.

Fayette and Merina discover that they are the enormous giants destroying the homes of many minikin with each step that they take! Marcus runs in and scoops up the body of the feline, and Grull wisely sounds a retreat. The golem brings his bowl down once more, seeking to crush the Erqigdlit, and sending up a huge cloud of dust…

Marcus, at full sprint, cradling the severely injured Jun-jun in his arms, emerges from the cloud, having somehow evaded the monster’s crushing blow! The party hurtles pell-mell down the island path, avoiding a huge tree felled along the way. Somehow, the company outdistances both golem and minikin, making the safety of the beach and the Sea Ghost. Elphaba works her magic, and the young cat is spared an untimely demise!

Just before Jun-jun slips into a much needed rest, he presses a strange golden medallion into Grull’s claw…

The Rescue

The company scouts the stockade and plans an attack. The local Seshurma are likewise watching this encampment of their hated enemies. Grull contacts them and discovers his old associate, Ssluruk, now the chieftan. He convinces the lizard-folk of the strength of working together to attack the stockade.

Using the Seshurma as a diversion, the Companions attack the stockade from the opposite direction, and are able to sack the fort, though Drakine Commander Canalith manages to hole up inside a stone tower created by a magic scroll. Grull negotiates an escape for Canalith in exchange for the information he wants. Captain Tarkenth dumped blind captain Ferd on an island further south towards Chiref, and both Lillian and the Alkax were in Chiref when Canalith left there.

The company goes back to Chiref and the Sea Ghost in order to search for Ferd.

Looking for clues

First port of call is Chendrek, where the company meet a Drakine bard named Pokrath, who gives them much valuable information. They discover some of the crew of the Alkax in a slave holding facility, waiting to be auctioned. The heroes attack the building, freeing the sailors. They discover that the Commander who dumped the crew members after their capture, Canalith, has taken the rest to a stockade in the Grey Bogs to perform construction work on a stone stronghold. They also hear rumors of a sailor seen on an uninhabited island along the Drakine Coast.

Grull elects to rescue the rest of the Alkax crew first. They make preparations and set forth overland toward the Drakine stockade.

Unhappy Homecoming

Thunderheart is pregnant, so the company detours to Ah Shu to give her and her pups a good home. Thunderheart leaves the group. Our heroes arrive back in Saltham Shore nearly five months after they departed. Neither of the two ships, nor their crews, are in the village when the company arrives. The alewife, Bellamy, gives Elphaba a message left here by Lady Langwurt’s handmaiden, Lillian, warning her that she has been forced to run because Sharena’s betrothed, Randarath Khrom, has arrived in Farnth and is actively seeking his fianceé. Bellamy tells her that the bumblebees showed up the following day looking for Lillian, and she fled on the Alkax, with the Sea Ghost as escort. Neither has been heard from since then.

The group learn that a strangely glowing ghost ship patrols offshore at night for about a week now. Grull buys a small fishing boat from one of the locals and the party sails out to meet the white, glowing ship. It is the Sea Ghost, with Father Jobo using Guiding Light to make the ship glow in the evening. He was concerned that the bumblebees might decide to seize the ship, were it found in port. So he awaited the companions’ return, confident that they would figure it out.

Father Jobo’s story: Leaving Saltham Shore, the two vessels made their way south along the coast, away from Valicia. As soon as they crossed into Basidrun waters, however, they were set upon by a huge pirate ship. Severely outmanned, Ferd elected to sacrifice himself and the Alkax to the pirates, so that the Sea Ghost could escape and seek help. Unfortunately, this meant that Lillian was taken as well.

The party sets out for Basidrun to try and locate the whereabouts of pirates in these waters. First stop is Chendrek, first village on the coast south of the mouth of the Shaanda River.

The Coven wants the company’s help in stopping a dragon threat in the Snowthorn Mountains near the Valicia-Keldravia border. Two villages of nomadic Hlastroi barbarians have already been destroyed. Gemma (Flying Broomstick) remains with the company, the remaining witches depart. The heroes come upon the village of Woodfield immediately following the most recent dragon attack. A local lord, Jarl Ambergris, arrives with troops. The party talks with the lord and taaleh Lawt Farday, and discovers that another village, Eidelfarn, in Keldravia, has also been attacked by the dragon. The company travels there to investigate.

Arriving in Eldelfarn, they find the town militia being drilled by their kapitan, Wolfgang Junker, against a scarecrow dragon. The heroes also meet Bella, seamstress and witch, moving out of town; Shep, her despondent boyfriend; taal Viktor Knoblach; farmers Dirk Gardner and Ludwig Kemperer; the Bürgermeister, Luca Braun; and the blacksmith, Blackie. Investigation reveals that Lord Dieter Junker of Kirchhoff is Wolfgang older brother and their other brother, Gerhard, is shalan at the temple there. Bella does a card reading and reveals that the next dragon attack is to be at Count Skoremdaarl’s Black Rock House, certain to ignite a war between Valicia and Keldravia!

Arriving just in time, the company sees the dragon touch down in the edge of the nearby Black Moss Forest. As the heroes approach, they see it fly away towards Black Rock House and the village there. They charge into the woods and find shalan Gerhard Junker, apparently in control over the dragon. They break his hold on the dragon, who returns to eat the priest and flies away.

Out Of The Dark

Back on the lake, the company elects to follow the flow of the current, hoping that it may lead them to an exit. The cavern narrows to a swift-moving tunnel, complete with rapids, crocodiles, and giant frogs. Finally, the companions come into a large, swampy cavern, where they are attacked by a water elemental. They discover that the elemental was summoned by a water-based nature spirit. Breaking through the wall of the cavern, the water hurls the company over the Arturon Falls and crashing into the lake below. The companions are rescued by members of the Coven of D’yos. Their leader (?), Gemma, foretold that the group would fall from the sky at this precise moment and location. They need the Companions’ help, except for Adso, whose fortunes “take a different path.” Adso leaves the company.

Trapped In The Dark

Having fallen from a collapsed stone arch dozens of meters above, the Companions find themselves plunged into a huge cavern filled with mycetons, great shambling humanoid fungi. After defending themselves from the monsters and rescuing Ogbrek, they discover that there is no way to climb back up to the dwarven city.

Trapped!
Trapped in the Sunless Realms, the companions search for a way out. Along the path, they encounter giant lizards and giant spiders, before coming upon a wight eating corpses of dark dwarves and human zombies.

The Forest Of Darkness
The party comes to a huge underground cavern containing a forest and a large lake. After dealing with carnivorous trees, rootlings, and ratlings, the party encounter a large fortress which they avoid, but discover a secret entrance via a mysterious voice in Merina’s head encouraging her to rescue him.

The Dark Elves
The company stealthily enters the fortress of the dark elves, Celendril, via a secret entrance into the temple of the spider queen. They discover a gate which leads to some other, even larger, dark elven stronghold. They manage to rescue not a person, but an intelligent, telepathic sword named Kesh. They also manage to collapse the dark elven gate while escaping. Grull obtains a Blackblade here, and Fayette acquires a magic boat.

The City In The Dark
Setting out across the lake, the heroes meet up with some creatures calling themselves “uthosa,” who wanted to trade. The company trades several daggers for some information about what directions they could travel in, and what dangers lay in those directions. Setting forth, they discover a beach with giant crabs on the far side of the lake. A few days further on they discover the City in the Dark, a vast underground metropolis with orcs, goblins, ogres, hobgoblins, dark dwarves, dark elves, ratlings, undead, humans, and only the gods know what else lives there. After some inspection, the group discovers Jun-jun, a pakasa, lured away from his homeland to the fabled city of Aarn by a wizard who captured him and transported him here. The group agrees to let him travel with them. They manage to escape from the constabulary comprised of orcs and an ogre city gate guard, and flee this obscene place.

Snowed In

At the end of the fall, on the trip back to Valicia, the company found themselves trapped in an early winter’s snowstorm in the Valician Pass. They were rescued by Longknife Strongarm from the city of Gashearth. Forced by circumstance to winter in the dwarven city, Longknife and his wife, Brita, ask the heroes to search for their son, Ogbrek Strongarm, when he goes missing. They discover that he has been learning the craft of cryptmaking from the ancient cryptkeeper, Durm. Ogbrek has been working on a crypt for his soon-to-be “late” great-grandfather. The party enters the empty crypt and finds a collapsed wall revealing a cave complex beyond. They discover Ogbrek on the far side of a chasm across a stone bridge. As they try to reach him, the bridge collapses, plunging all into the inky blackness below.

Trial By Combat

Adso rejoins the company. A grey wolf, Thunderheart, comes to find Benwolf. She tells him (and Elphaba) that the druid that guards their forest is in trouble and needs help. Thunderheart joins the party. On the Waymeet-Tirion trail, the group meets a dwarven caravan led by Longknife Strongarm. The party then encounters a Gorthunda caravan led by Marcus’ old friend Roshor. Afterwards, the company proceeds to the Gorthundan Steppes only to discover that the druid has been murdered by goblins, with a haphazard attempt to use two corpses in heraldry to frame the Blue Wolves tribe. They go to the city of Waymeet, where they seek answers, acquire the dead druid’s magic cloak, and travel out to sack a goblin camp, where they rescue a Kumasian warrior, Merina, who joins the party.

Returning to Waymeet, the companions are captured and framed for the murder. Bulgan, chieftan of one of the largest tribes of Gorthunda, the Blue Wolves, challenges Grull to combat until evidence comes out implicating the rival tribe, the Emerald Drakes. Bulgan tries to offer what help he can without risking his standing with his people, but Marcus is forced into a wizard’s duel with Xanthan, an opponent mage from enemy tribe chieftan Odenggam’s camp. The wild mage suddenly discovers that he can throw fireballs, and roasts his opponent, “proving” the party’s innocence.

The Unearthing Rite

The companions run across a broken down wagon on the road. The injured driver gives them a pouch of silver with the promise of more if the party delivers the cart to the village of Saltham Shore. After delivering the wagon, the heroes discover that both a shepherd and the Lord’s son have mysteriously died recently along with several pigs and sheep, and a small cargo ship has run aground on a sandbar nearby. The ship is supposedly haunted, so the company investigates at night, finds pirates aboard the ship, named Alkax, and while they kill the pirates, the necromancer on board dives over the side and escapes. The heroes follow the trail to the cave complex the remaining pirates are using. They kill most of the pirates, but the mate buys his life and freedom for the release of the captive Lady Sharena Langwurt and her handmaiden, and the party returns her to her father, Count Linder Langwurt, in Farnth. There is much rejoicing, for now the wedding of Lady Langwurt into the royal family can commence.

The Citadel in the Bog
Count Langwurt asks the company to find the secret base of the Unearthing Rite in the Grey Bogs. Traveling in the swamp, the heroes encounter a tribe of Seshurma. After threatening to enslave Grull, Neu fireballs the lizardmen. Following the battle, the group captures a Seshurma, Ssluruk (nicknamed Quack). He tells the heroes where a mysterious abandoned dock is, which leads them to the citadel. They take Quack with them (cameo by Breez). The party confronts hundreds of zombies and a handful of necromancers. Afterwards, they return to Farnth, where a great celebration is held in the companions’ honor. Neu leaves the party to return to the tomb of Rakoss in order to further his wizardly studies. Adso leaves the party.

Gotta Get Back In Time
Lady Langwurt comes to the heroes with a problem. She does not wish to enter an arranged marriage, royal family or no. The companions agree to allow her to run away from Farnth with them. Adopting a new identity, the druidess Elphaba joins the group. The Alkax encounters a time eddy out on Lake Beralka which takes our heroes back in time 2500 years to an ancient city. They rescue a priest dedicated to Saaltus and his traveling companion, and barely escape a closing time loop in time to return to the present. Father Jobo and Guen join the company.

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
The company travels north along the coast, and encounters yet another village with a so-called haunted manor. Marcus does not like stirges. They clear yet another group of pirates out and capture yet another ship, the Sea Ghost.

The Tomb Of Rakoss

Grull, a self-exiled former Drakine Commander from Basidrun, and his new friend, the amnesiac mage Neu, found themselves in the halfling town of Tirhaven, just over the Myradon River and the Valician border, just inside Keldravia. In a halfling inn, looking for rumors of work for hired guards, they ran across several others seeking the same goals: Fayette, an elven archer who, afflicted with wanderlust, had spent several decades traveling here from Elvenholme; Marcus, a young Erqigdlit who used to travel with caravans along the Waymeet-Tirion trail and now found himself on his own; and Adso, a rogue and errant cleric of the High Church. A bar fight ensued, at least in part because a halfling named Norb clocked Marcus in the back of the head with a beer mug. During the fight, which spilled outside, Neu fireballed a farmer’s wheat field across the street from the inn.

Goblins!
Once the dust settled, the motley group of wanderers, now before the authorities in the personage of Tirhaven’s mayor, was ordered to go rid the town of a band of goblins that had been preying upon them of late as recompense for the farmer’s field. The improvisational adventuring company bearded the goblins in their den, Neu nearly killing Fayette while fireballing goblins, and successfully returned to Tirhaven. And thus, Grull’s Companions were born, although it would not be known by that name for some time to come.

The Tomb of Rakoss
After some time, the company learned of trouble in a small village named Ah Shu. There, they defeated zombies (despite Fayette’s accidentally shooting Grull in the back of the head), but encountered an unusually cold phenomenon. They traced it back to a hidden tomb, the last resting place of Rakoss the Undying. They negotiated the traps and monsters therein, including giant ants, a stone golem, and a manticore. For their booty, they discovered Foebreaker, a powerful named sword which was given to Marcus; the Ring Of Perspicacity, given to Grull; the Ghost Grip Glove, to Neu; a shirt of unreal elven chainmail, for Fayette; and a spellbook belonging to the deceased warrior-necromancer Rakoss. To this day, his companions are not sure that Neu was not somehow affected by the spirit of the evil general Rakoss.

Beginnings 21 July 2006
Grull, a self-exiled former Drakine Commander from Basidrun, and his new friend, the amnesiac mage Neu, found themselves in the halfling town of Tirhaven, just over the Myradon River and the Valician border, just inside Keldravia. In a halfling inn, looking for rumors of work for hired guards, they ran across several others seeking the same goals: Fayette, an elven archer who, afflicted with wanderlust, had spent several decades traveling here from Elvenholme; Marcus, a young Erqigdlit who used to travel with caravans along the Waymeet-Tirion trail and now found himself on his own; and Adso, a rogue and errant cleric of the High Church. A bar fight ensued, at least in part because a halfling named Norb clocked Marcus in the back of the head with a beer mug. During the fight, which spilled outside, Neu fireballed a farmer’s wheat field across the street from the inn. Once the dust settled, the motley group of wanderers, now before the authorities in the personage of Tirhaven’s mayor, was ordered to go rid the town of a band of goblins that had been preying upon them of late as recompense for the farmer’s field. The improvisational adventuring company bearded the goblins in their den, Neu nearly killing Fayette while fireballing goblins, and successfully returned to Tirhaven. And thus, Grull’s Companions were born, although it would not be known by that name for some time to come.

The Tomb of Rakoss
After some time, the company learned of trouble in a small village named Ah Shu. There, they defeated zombies (despite Fayette’s accidentally shooting Grull in the back of the head), but encountered an unusually cold phenomenon. They traced it back to a hidden tomb, the last resting place of Rakoss the Undying. They negotiated the traps and monsters therein, including giant ants, a stone golem, and a manticore. For their booty, they discovered Foebreaker, a powerful named sword which was given to Marcus; the Ring Of Perspicacity, given to Grull; a shirt of unreal elven chainmail, for Fayette; and a spellbook belonging to the deceased warrior-necromancer Rakoss. To this day, his companions are not sure that Neu was not somehow affected by the spirit of the evil general Rakoss.

The Secret of Saltham Shore 26 Jan 2007
The companions run across a broken down wagon on the road. The injured driver gives them a pouch of silver with the promise of more if the party delivers the cart to the village of Saltham Shore. After delivering the wagon, the heroes discover that both a shepherd and the Lord’s son have mysteriously died recently along with several pigs and sheep, and a small cargo ship has run aground on a sandbar nearby. The ship is supposedly haunted, so the company investigates at night, finds pirates aboard the ship, named Alkax, and while they kill the pirates, the necromancer on board dives over the side and escapes. The heroes follow the trail to the cave complex the remaining pirates are using. They kill most of the pirates, but the mate buys his life and freedom for the release of the captive Lady Sharena Langwurt and her handmaiden, and the party returns her to her father, Count Linder Langwurt, in Farnth. There is much rejoicing, for now the wedding of Lady Langwurt into the royal family can commence.

The Citadel in the Bog
Count Langwurt asks the company to find the secret base of the Unearthing Rite in the Grey Bogs. Traveling in the swamp, the heroes encounter a tribe of Seshurma. After threatening to enslave Grull, Neu fireballs the lizardmen. Following the battle, the group captures a Seshurma, Ssluruk (nicknamed Quack). He tells the heroes where a mysterious abandoned dock is, which leads them to the citadel. They take Quack with them (cameo by Breez). The party confronts hundreds of zombies and a handful of necromancers. Afterwards, they return to Farnth, where a great celebration is held in the companions’ honor. Neu leaves the party to return to the tomb of Rakoss in order to further his wizardly studies. Adso leaves the party.

Gotta Get Back In Time
Lady Langwurt comes to the heroes with a problem. She does not wish to enter an arranged marriage, royal family or no. The companions agree to allow her to run away from Farnth with them. Adopting a new identity, the druidess Elphaba joins the group. The Alkax encounters a time eddy out on Lake Beralka which takes our heroes back in time 2500 years to an ancient city. They rescue a priest dedicated to Saaltus and his traveling companion, and barely escape a closing time loop in time to return to the present. Father Jobo and Guen join the company.

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
The company travels north along the coast, and encounters yet another village with a so-called haunted manor. Marcus does not like stirges. They clear yet another group of pirates out and capture yet another ship, the Sea Ghost.

The Gorthundan Steppes 12 April 2008
Adso rejoins the company. A grey wolf, Thunderheart, comes to find Benwolf. She tells him (and Elphaba) that the druid that guards their forest is in trouble and needs help. Thunderheart joins the party. On the Waymeet-Tirion trail, the group meets a dwarven caravan led by Longknife Strongarm. The party then encounters a Gorthunda caravan led by Marcus’ old friend Roshor. The company then travels to the Gorthundan Steppes only to discover that the druid has been murdered by goblins, with a haphazard attempt to use two corpses in heraldry to frame the Blue Wolves tribe. They go to the city of Waymeet, where they seek answers, acquire the dead druid’s magic cloak, and travel out to sack a goblin camp, where they rescue a Kumasian warrior, Merina, who joins the party.

Returning to Waymeet, the companions are captured and framed for the murder. Bulgan, chieftan of one of the largest tribes of Gorthunda, the Blue Wolves, challenges Grull to combat until evidence comes out implicating the rival tribe, the Emerald Drakes. Bulgan tries to offer what help he can without risking his standing with his people, but Marcus is forced into a wizard’s duel with Xanthan, an opponent mage from enemy tribe chieftan Odenggam’s camp. The wild mage suddenly discovers that he can throw fireballs, and roasts his opponent, “proving” the party’s innocence.

Gashearth 14 June 2008
At the end of the fall, on the trip back to Valicia, the company found themselves trapped in an early winter’s snowstorm in the Valician Pass. They were rescued by Longknife Strongarm from the city of Gashearth. Forced by circumstance to winter in the dwarven city, Longknife and his wife, Brita, ask the heroes to search for their son, Ogbrek Strongarm, when he goes missing. They discover that he has been learning the craft of cryptmaking from the ancient cryptkeeper, Durm. Ogbrek has been working on a crypt for his soon-to-be “late” great-grandfather. The party enters the empty crypt and finds a collapsed wall revealing a cave complex beyond. They discover Ogbrek on the far side of a chasm across a stone bridge. As they try to reach him, the bridge collapses, plunging all into the inky blackness below.

The Sunless Realms 5 Dec 2008
Trapped in the Sunless Realms, the companions search for a way out. Along the path, they encounter mycetons, giant lizards, and giant spiders, before coming to a huge underground cavern containing a forest and a large lake. After dealing with carnivorous trees and ratlings, the party encounter a large fortress which they avoid, but discover a secret entrance via a mysterious voice in Merina’s head encouraging her to rescue him.

The Dark Elves
The company stealthily enters the fortress of the dark elves, Celendril, where they discover a gate which leads to some other, even larger, dark elven stronghold. They manage to rescue not a person, but an intelligent, telepathic sword named Kesh. They also manage to collapse the dark elven gate while escaping. Grull obtains a Blackblade here, and Fayette acquires a magic boat.

The City In The Dark
Setting out across the lake, the heroes meet up with some creatures calling themselves “uthosa,” who wanted to trade. The company trades several daggers for some information about what directions they could travel in, and what dangers lay in those directions. Setting forth, they discover a beach with giant crabs on the far side of the lake. A few days further on they discover the City in the Dark, a vast underground metropolis with orcs, goblins, ogres, hobgoblins, dark dwarves, dark elves, ratlings, undead, humans, and only the gods know what else lives there. After some inspection, the group discovers Jun-jun, a pakasa, lured away from his homeland to the fabled city of Aarn by a wizard who captured him and transported him here. The group agrees to let him travel with them. They manage to escape from the constabulary comprised of orcs and an ogre city gate guard, and flee this obscene place.

Escape From The Sunless Realms 7 Jan 2011
Back on the lake, the company elects to follow the flow of the current, hoping that it may lead them to an exit. The cavern narrows to a swift-moving tunnel, complete with rapids, crocodiles, and giant frogs. Finally, the companions come into a large, swampy cavern, where they are attacked by a water elemental. They discover that the elemental was summoned by a water-based nature spirit. Breaking through the wall of the cavern, the water hurls the company over the Arturon Falls and crashing into the lake below. The companions are rescued by members of the Coven of D’yos. Their leader (?), Gemma, foretold that the group would fall from the sky at this precise moment and location. They need the Companions’ help, except for Adso, whose fortunes “take a different path.” Adso leaves the company.

As The Wyrm Turns 4 Feb 2011
The Coven wants the company’s help in stopping a dragon threat in the Snowthorn Mountains near the Valicia-Keldravia border. Two villages of nomadic Hlastroi barbarians have already been destroyed. Gemma (Flying Broomstick) remains with the company, the remaining witches depart. The heroes come upon the village of Woodfield immediately following the most recent dragon attack. A local lord, Jarl Ambergris, arrives with troops. The party talks with the lord and taaleh Lawt Farday, and discovers that another village, Eidelfarn, in Keldravia, has also been attacked by the dragon. The company travels there to investigate.

Arriving in Eldelfarn, they find the town militia being drilled by their kapitan, Wolfgang Junker, against a scarecrow dragon. The heroes also meet Bella, seamstress and witch, moving out of town; Shep, her despondent boyfriend; taal Viktor Knoblach; farmers Dirk Gardner and Ludwig Kemperer; the Bürgermeister, Luca Braun; and the blacksmith, Blackie. Investigation reveals that Lord Dieter Junker of Kirchhoff is Wolfgang older brother and their other brother, Gerhard, is shalan at the temple there. Bella does a card reading and reveals that the next dragon attack is to be at Count Skoremdaarl’s Black Rock House, certain to ignite a war between Valicia and Keldravia!

Arriving just in time, the company sees the dragon touch down in the edge of the nearby Black Moss Forest. As the heroes approach, they see it fly away towards Black Rock House and the village there. They charge into the woods and find shalan Gerhard Junker, apparently in control over the dragon. They break his hold on the dragon, who returns to eat the priest and flies away.

Return To Irolo 13 May 2011
Thunderheart is pregnant, so the company detours to Ah Shu to give her and her pups a good home. Thunderheart leaves the group. Our heroes arrive back in Saltham Shores nearly five months after they departed. Neither of the two ships, nor their crews, are in the village when the company arrives. The alewife, Bellamy, gives Elphaba a message left here by Lady Langwurt’s handmaiden, Lillian, warning her that she has been forced to run because Sharena’s betrothed, Randarath Khrom, has arrived in Fanth and is actively seeking his fianceé. Bellamy tells her that the bumblebees showed up the following day looking for Lillian, and she fled on the Alkax, with the Sea Ghost as escort. Neither has been heard from since then.

The group learn that a strangely glowing ghost ship patrols offshore at night for about a week now. Grull buys a small fishing boat from one of the locals and the party sails out to meet the white, glowing ship. It is the Sea Ghost, with Father Jobo using Guiding Light to make the ship glow in the evening. He was concerned that the bumblebees might decide to seize the ship, were it found in port. So he awaited the companions’ return, confident that they would figure it out.

Father Jobo’s story: Leaving Saltham Shore, the two vessels made their way south along the coast, away from Valicia. As soon as they crossed into Basidrun waters, however, they were set upon by a huge pirate ship. Severely outmanned, Ferd elected to sacrifice himself and the Alkax to the pirates, so that the Sea Ghost could escape and seek help. Unfortunately, this meant that Lillian was taken as well.

The party sets out for Basidrun to try and locate the whereabouts of pirates in these waters. First stop is Chendrek, first village on the coast south of the mouth of the Shaanda River.

6 Aug 2011

24 Sep 2011

Sailing To Chiref 5 Nov 2011

In Search Of The Golden Dragon take deux 3 Dec 2011

In Search Of The Golden Dragon take troix 17 Dec 2011

The Chase Is On, part un 17 Feb 2012

The Chase Is On, part deux 17 March 2012

Coconuts 12 May 2012

George and Martha 26 May 2012
In Frajele, the companions are approached by a local shepherd, a young male Drakine. He has heard the heroes help people with problems, and he needs help. George is missing! Of course, George is a giant lizard. Elphaba talks to George’s friend Martha (yep, another giant lizard). George loves eating grapes! So they find George in the vineyard, threatened by a pack of wolves. They convince the wolves that there is easier prey elsewhere. George is saved!

Happy Father’s Day? 20 July 2012

Stop The Duke’s Big, Fat, Redneck Wedding 6 Oct 2012
Sailing up the coast, the heroes set course to Saltham Shore. Making their way overland to Fanth, they use disguise to sneak their way into the city. They have arrived on the day of the nuptials. They have to work their way through the crowds to the cathedral, sneaking in the side entrance onto the cathedral grounds, and into a storeroom in the wing of the building down from the main temple. In the storeroom they find ceremonial robes for the wedding. Elphaba, Merina, and Fayette use them to disguise themselves and reconnoiter through the cathedral (although Fayette is forced to leave her beloved longbow behind). Grull, Marcus, and Jun-jun are stuck in the storeroom awaiting their return.

Going To The Chapel 16 Nov 2012
Elphaba, Merina, and Fayette meet a doddering old priest, Vener Agee, archoth of the cathedral and the priest who will be conducting the wedding ceremony. Lady Langwurt knows the old priest, as she met him not only on affairs of the county, but when she was a young girl seeking her studies in life. The archoth (then only shalan) interviewed her prior to recommending her to the local druidic circle. He is of very poor sight. Does he recognize the lady, despite her disguise? If so, he hides it well, and speaks in cryptic terms.

Meanwhile, Grull, Marcus, and Jun-jun are forced to hide among the crates as a party of bumblebees passes through the storeroom. This would appear to be Randarath Khrom, 23rd in line to the throne of Valicia, his retinue, and the groom, Count Linder Langwurt of County Irolo. They pass through without noticing the heroic trio, and leave. That was close! Now, where did Jun-jun disappear to this time?

As the distaff heroes attempt to return to the storeroom, they come to the attention of several women of the Valician Guard, who take them away. The bridal party is about to arrive, and these female attendants need to help Lillian prepare for her wedding. The plan is for her to arrive, and almost immediately be walked down the aisle!

Jun-jun returns to the storeroom with a Drakine kilt and a battleaxe. The Drakine’s Regal Axes are in attendance for the wedding, and now Grull has a disguise to look as if he is part of that group. The trio decide to set out from the storeroom to try and find Randarath and convince him of the folly of the wedding.

The women meet Lillian, but are unable to communicate with her because of the presence of the guardswomen. The cathedral bells sound that the ceremony is about to begin!

The fellows come up the rear stairs of the wing to surreptitiously reach Randarath and Count Irolo, but as they enter the hallway, they see the heir and his retinue at the far end, headed downstairs to the main chapel. They attempt to catch up, but the retinue enters the temple as the heroes come up behind them.

All of the Companions are able to position themselves wherever they want in the crowd before the ceremony begins. Fayette’s mysterious stranger suddenly approaches her, hands her his staff, with instructions on how to use it. It suddenly becomes a longbow, and the elven archer repairs to the choir loft. They note at least two individuals that they know in the crowd: Lord Jarl Ambergris, met in Woodford while the company were looking for a dragon; the wandering Drakine bard, Pokrath, on the dais playing his instrument for the ceremony; and the mysterious stranger Fayette has caught glimpses of over the months, now very obviously of elven ancestry.

The soft stringed music plays, and the ceremony begins!

Fate Of Irolo 30 Nov 2012
The male bridal party: Count Irolo, the captain of the Valician Guards, and two guardsmen, enter from an anteroom at the side of the temple. The music flourishes, and the doors at the entrance of the chapel open, revealing the bride, Lillian, and her four guardswoman retinue. King Khrom’s vizier sits in the front row. The ceremony proceeds until the inevitable “Does anyone object…” line, when the doors at the end of the chapel burst open, and a Valician Guardsman mounted on horseback charges up to the altar. He announces that the city is attacked! Three armies, one of men, one of the lizardmen Seshurma, and one of the frogmen Ran-Tari, surround Fanth!

The guardsmen leave, as do the Drakine’s Regal Axes. The guardswomen are left behind to protect the bride. Guests hastily exit. Chaos is the order of the moment. The opportunity is now! The heroes rush the dais and the King’s wizard. The wizard teleports away… to the choir loft, unawares that Fayette is in hiding there! She puts two arrows into his neck, and the mage falls from the loft to the chapel below, stone dead.

Battle of the Five Armies 14 Dec 2012
Five armies: the lizardmen Seshurma and frogmen Ran-Tari from the Shaanda River delta swamp, and an army of men who live in the cities along that great river, facing off against the Valician defenders of the city and the mercenary company, the Drakine’s Regal Axes. The handmaiden is saved, but the city is under siege! Grull and Marcus sortie out from the city to leverage their personal relationship with the Seshurma to try and negotiate a settlement. While the Seshurma cannot speak for the other two attacking armies, they let Grull know that he still has a few short hours before the attack is scheduled to commence.

Meanwhile, Elphaba and Randarath discuss how neither one of them wishes to be wed, and that they have been pushed by forces outside of their control.

On Lake Beralka 11 Jan 2013

On Stranger Tides 15 Feb 2013

Szarvasia Detour 29 March 2013
The Sea Ghost stops in the city of Banska-Morav, at the mouth of the Ordring River, and just across the border into Szarvasia. There they meet a man named Ivanov, who has a caravan he is trying to get to the capitol, Velkathy-Tashan, and needs a group of experienced professionals to see to its safety. The party accepts, and meets the other partner of the caravan, a female Erqigdlit named Sasha. Halfway between the two cities, along the Beralka Road, the camp is set upon at night by a group of religious fanatics with poisoned daggers, two giant poisonous snakes, a pair of priests devoted to Mordak, the god of death, and a poisonous Serpent Demon. The companions are nearly destroyed by the onslaught; Fayette, Merina, Jun-jun, and Sasha are gravely injured, many teamsters died in the defense, and the team is sore pressed to get the caravan to the capitol.

The Golden Throne 3 May 2013
Meeting some of King Boldisar’s senior officers and nobles, the company is permitted to reside in the castle for several weeks while they recover from their wounds.

Grull meets a couple of the castle’s warriors, and drills with them, learning advanced techniques in disarming opponents.

Elphaba meets the Warden and the archoth of the king’s forest, the Vaas Presova, where she has an odd meeting of all of the forest’s enchanted creatures; centaurs, a treeman, fae, a forest spirit, minikin, a dryad, a unicorn and a pegasus. All are aware that a great evil is descending upon the land, and the fae are leaving this world for their own. What this means is not clear.

Sasha begs Marcus to take a sack of coin to a local address, where he meets a small Erqigdlit boy, Sasha’s son, Sparky. He defends the lad from several local bullies, but gets him kicked out of his residence in the process. Marcus takes him to the castle. As soon as Grull discovers the circumstances, he offers Sparky to join the Companions as his personal squire.

Maril brings Fayette a gift of hand-carved leather greaves and vambraces to supplement her armor.

Merina finds that the palace chirurgeon met her father, because he has previously seen the tattoo she and her father both wear.

After three weeks, the company has recovered, and has their long-awaited audience with King Boldisar. Fayette learns that she and Maril are related, they are both from the Illurifir line of elves. The King tells them that the stones that they delivered to him were pieces of a long-lost artifact, a gate that would open to the realm where the Demon Prince of Foulness dwells. It is best to leave it here in the castle, lest any should try to use it to wreak evil upon the world.

The Spear of Vergaine 21 June 2013
Father Jobo has found a dwarf, Simeon Strongknife, who wishes to take passage aboard the Sea Ghost as far as Dyvnar, in Umbr. As the ship prepares to set sail, Grull receives a message that draws him away. He will catch up with the party in Helvoca, Mircasëa in a few days. After several days under sail, the company encounters a damaged ship, the Black Eagle, split nearly in half on a sandbar only a day short of Helvoca. The few survivors tell our heroes a harrowing tale of attack by the Keldravian Navy and the fabled Lake Beralka Kraken! The attackers seemed to think the destroyed ship was transporting the legendary Spear of Vergaine. Hey, what’s in that box the dwarf brought aboard with him?

The ship makes port in Helvoca, and the group promptly get in a bar fight with a group of Keldravian Naval crew and the survivors from the Black Eagle. Grull arrives just in time to make the brawl short.

The Kraken 12 July 2013
Impressing the stranger they met in the bar into service as a method of keeping him out of the hands of the local constabulary, Tarot joins the company. Within a couple of days, the ship is set upon by a Keldravian Naval vessel and the Kraken! Tarot, who speaks with animals, discovers he can communicate with the Kraken, who follows the orders of the holder of the conch shell the enemy mage wears. The forces are split fairly evenly, and the mage aboard the enemy ship breaks off the fight. As they do, the “Keldravians” are revealed to be sharthak, the shark people. The Sea Ghost is damaged, however, and limps the remaining distance to Dar Enroqe.